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The rental market is booming, increasing the importance for landlords to know what the average letting agent fees are across the country.
With changes in legislation concerning tenant fee bans & offsetting mortgage costs and the BREXIT doom and gloom, keeping on top of fees is critical to maintaining a profitable property portfolio.
If letting agent costs are too high, profits from a rental property can be quickly eaten up
The letting agent fees you pay will depend on how hands you want to be with your rental property.
Some landlords just want their agent to find them tenants. Whereas other landlords want agents to take on inspections, maintenance, inventories and a whole lot more.
1. The best letting agent near you
2. Average letting agent fee calculator
3. Types of letting agent fees
4. Letting agent fees in London
5. Letting agent fees outside of London
6. Average online letting agent fees
7. Rental yield data for landlords
1. The best letting agent near you
If you have a property in England, the below analysis will be useful for understanding average fees letting agents are charging. Furthermore, you can see precise fees agents are charging in your area. In
Every town is different and so are the letting agent fees landlords will face, so finding the best letting agent is always simple. Rent Round allows landlords to compare letting fees of agents near a landlords rental property.
A quick comparison shows % letting agents charge for tenant find, full management & guaranteed rent services.
Type in your post code to see letting agents near you. We will also show you letting agent ratings and distance from your property.
marta wonder
I got the best priced agent in my area with all the services I wanted. Using Rent Round I could see all the local agents in my area after just putting in my postcode.
Marta Wonder
I got the best agent in my area with all the services I wanted. Using Rent Round I could agent fees, ratings and best of all how far the agent is from my rental property, plus it’s free to use!
2. Average letting agent fee calculator
Wherever your property is in the country, the below calculator will give you an idea of the average letting agent fees in your city. Simply enter the city your property has and the number of rooms.
The calculator will work out the expected rent you should expect based on national averages. You’re also able to see an estimation of your take home profit after letting agent fees, tax & bills.
3. Types of Letting Agent Fees
There are many types of fees rental agents charge landlords. This will be dictated by the services the landlord is looking for. The fees are generally broken down into the following groups
Letting agent tenant find fees
This fee is for the cost of advertising your property, answering tenant queries, conducting property viewings and creating the tenancy agreement. Depending on the agents terms and your agreement with them, this service can also include the ongoing rent collection for that tenant.
Letting agent fully management fees
This services goes over an above finding the tenant and is usually taken up by landlords looking for a hands off approach. The letting agent will in addition manage the property inspections, documentation, maintenance and for sure the ongoing rent collection.
Letting agent add on fees
There are a host of other activities that the letting agent can charge additional fees for. These include, but are not restricted to:
- Premium advertising
- Guaranteed rent policies
- Bill payment processing
- Tenancy renewal fees
As a landlord, you should always read the small print and understand what services are included and what you may be charged more for.
Guaranteed rent fees
This type of service is for landlords looking for a risk averse approach, by securing their rental income against a policy. In the event that a tenant cannot (or won’t) pay their rent, the policy undertaken secures the income. After a certain amount of time of unpaid rent, the policy will kick in and a landlord gets their payment.
Every policy differs. Some require a landlord to wait a few weeks or even months. On the other hand some policies pay out as soon as a payment is missed. Landlords using this service can get a peace of mind knowing any mortgage payments or bills aren’t at risk of a tenant not paying their rent.
There is a higher cost of this service, which means a landlord’s monthly income will take a hit. During the Covid-19 pandemic, landlord searches for guaranteed rent increased by 25%. In the midst of tenant arrears & eviction bans, it’s clear landlords were keen to get coverage from themselves. However many agents pulled back their offering of guaranteed rent.
Many agents couldn’t find a provider to underwrite this type of services as arrears across the country increased.
4. Letting agent fees in London
Finding a tenant, essentially involves posting a property on one of the leading portal sites. From there, tenant leads are generated as interest in the property is created.
Depending on the agent, a tenant find fee includes answering inquiries and conducting viewings. Following which, again depending on the agent, the service will include the drawing up of tenancy agreements, collecting the first rent & handover the keys to the property.
However online rental agents usually differ to the above offering. With an online rental agent, landlords can expect lower fees. With the lower fees landlords are expected to do more work, the most time intensive of which is conducting viewing themselves.
Letting agent fees for finding a tenant in London
The below table shows how much a letting agent in London will charge for finding a tenant. The structure of how an agent will charge a landlord differs.
Some prefer an ongoing monthly fixed fee or % of the rental income. While other charge a flat one off fee at the beginning of the tenancy.
| Letting agent name | Fees charged | Fee structure | Fees paid on £1,000 monthly rent (per annum) |
| LettingaProperty.com | £149 | One off | £149 |
| Accommodation.co.uk | 4% | pcm | £480 |
| Hunter Ashley Sales & Lettings | £395 | One off | £395 |
| Base property specialists | 10% | pcm | £1,200 |
| Home Made | £948 | One off | £948 |
| Hanson Estates | 50% | Of first months rent | £500 |
| J Property Management Limited | £400 | One off | £400 |
| 99home | £99 | One off | £99 |
| Cole Harding | 6% | pcm | £720 |
| Markeves Estates | 6% | pcm | £720 |
| Haart | 100% | Of first months rent | £1,000 |
| Marybow | 10% | pcm | £1,200 |
| Mark Hart Real Estate | 6% | pcm | £720 |
| Venndor Properties | £899 | One off | £899 |
| Drury Estates | 9% | pcm | £1,080 |
Based on the data, there are huge variances between what fees are charged. The cheapest agent to find a tenant is 99home. Whereas the most expensive, based on a monthly rental income of £1,000 is Marybow and Base property specialists. However it’s not always that simple.
Marybow & Base property services focus on a small region within London, whereas 99home is nationwide. As a result, these 2 agents are likely to have distinct, niche knowledge of their area – for some landlords this may result in a better service for their particular property. There are a number of agents charged a fixed one off fee for finding a tenant for a property in London. This may be an advantage for landlords with property with a large rental income.
For properties generating a monthly income of £3,000+ per month in rent, forking out 10%, £300 a month in tenant find fees can be costly. A fixed fee in this example may be the best course of action to take.
Letting agent fees for full property management in London
Full property management is often a service landlords with a lack of experience or wish for a hands off buy to let property income. The fees are higher than finding a tenant due to the additional activity involved that the agent has to undertake.
As with fees for finding a tenant, letting agents will charge based on varying sets of fee structures.
| Letting agent name | Fees charged | Fee structure | Fees paid on £1,000 monthly rent (per annum) |
| LettingaProperty.com | £99 | pcm | £1,188 |
| Accommodation.co.uk | 12% | pcm | £1,440 |
| Hunter Ashley Sales & Lettings | 9% | pcm | £1,080 |
| Base property specialists | 15% | pcm | £1,800 |
| Home Made | 4% | pcm | £480 |
| Hanson Estates | 10% | pcm | £1,200 |
| J Property Management Limited | 8% | pcm | £960 |
| 99home | £85 | pcm | £1,020 |
| Cole Harding | 10% | pcm | £1,200 |
| Markeves Estates | 12% | pcm | £1,440 |
| Haart | 14.40% | pcm | £1,680 |
| Marybow | 12.00% | pcm | £1,440 |
| Mark Hart Real Estate | 11% | pcm | £1,320 |
| Venndor Properties | £799 | One off | £799 |
| Drury Estates | 14% | pcm | £799 |
Home-Made really offer a competitive deal when it comes to full management fees in London, charging just 4% per calendar month.
On a rental income of £1,000, Home-Made would be charging £480 per year. As always there are a number of agents charging fixed fees for managing a property.
Venndor charge an attractive £799 as a one off payment for full management. This could be attractive to landlords looking for the lowest priced letting agent.
Letting agent fees for guaranteed rent in London
At the turn of the year 2020, near enough every agent had a guaranteed rent package available for landlords. However due to the rental arrears and additional risk Covid-19 has caused, many agents have been forced to pull back this type of service. This leaves landlords worried about the security of their rental income exposed.
However there are a few letting agents still open to providing this service. 99home have a rent guarantee package available at £85 per calendar month. With the scarcity in the market, this is proving a highly sought service from the nationwide letting agent
So who is the best letting agent in London?
Picking the best letting agent isn’t always simple. The cheapest doesn’t mean the best and the agent that will do the most for your property may not be cost effective enough for your aims.
Looking at how quickly an agent lets out your property and what rent they achieve, can be another good indicator to look at when picking your letting agent.
Take a look below and see which agents get the most rent and their timeframes to get your property rented out. Remember this data always fluctuates.
| Letting agent name | Average monthly rent obtained |
Average listing time (weeks)
|
| Accommodation.co.uk | £1,543 | 4 |
| Hunter Ashley Sales & Lettings | £1,183 | 2 |
| Base property specialists | £1,963 | 6 |
| Home Made | £1,855 | 8 |
| Hanson Estates | £1,330 | 8 |
| J Property Management Limited | £702 | 15 |
| 99home | £1,213 | 11 |
| Cole Harding | £2,119 | 14 |
| Markeves Estates | £2,002 | 2 |
| Venndor Properties | £1,057 | 15 |
| Drury Estates | £1,998 | 20 |
For a more accurate view, run a letting agent comparison on our homepage. At the current time of writing Markeves and Hunter Ashley are the quickest letting agents in London on Rentround at renting out a property, with an average of 2 weeks.
Markeves in this instance looks particularly favourable, as its 2nd in the rankings for achieving the highest amount of rent, it an average of £2,002 per calendar month. The top spot of achieving the highest rent goes to Cole Harding. Operating mostly in North London, the agent on average achieves a rental income of £2,119.
5. Letting agent fees outside of London
If you want to compare letting agents in your area, use our comparison tool to get an understanding of agent fees & performance near you. We’ve also included some further data below on letting agents covering Birmingham, Yorkshire, Manchester & Liverpool.
Fees for finding a tenant in Birmingham
| Letting agent name | Fees charged | Fee structure |
Fees paid on £1,000 monthly rent (per annum)
|
|
Accommodation.co.uk
|
4% | pcm | £480 |
|
Open House Birmingham
|
£199 | One off | £199 |
|
Click Lettings and Sales
|
50% | 1st months rent | £500 |
| ROUDS | £99 | One off | £99 |
|
Open House Edgbaston
|
£245 | One off | £245 |
| Empire Lettings & Property Management Ltd | 12% | pcm | £1,440 |
|
Shape Lettings LTD
|
£450 | One off | £450 |
| MAK Estates | £395 | One off | £395 |
| JustMove | £150 | One off | £150 |
Fees for finding a tenant in Manchester
| Letting agent name | Fees charged | Fee structure | Fees paid on £1,000 monthly rent (per annum) |
| Accommodation.co.uk | 4% | pcm | £480 |
| Kirn Estates Ltd | £395 | One off | £395 |
| Clear Choice Properties | £150 | One off | £150 |
| The Lettings Cloud | £195 | One off | £195 |
| X1 Lettings | Full management only | ||
| Ellenbrook Estates Ltd | 10% | pcm | £1,200 |
| Brentwood Lettings | 10% | pcm | £1,200 |
Fees for finding a tenant in Leeds
| Letting agent name | Fees charged | Fee structure |
Fees paid on £1,000 monthly rent (per annum)
|
|
Accommodation.co.uk
|
4% | pcm | £480 |
|
Yorkshire Letting Agency
|
80% | 1st months rent | £800 |
| Linley & Simpson | 75% | 1st months rent | £750 |
|
Stoneacre Properties
|
£250 | One off | £250 |
| X1 Lettings | Full management only | ||
| Butlers Estate Agents Ltd | £345 | One off | £345 |
Fees for finding a tenant in Liverpool
| Letting agent name | Fees charged | Fee structure |
Fees paid on £1,000 monthly rent (per annum)
|
| Accommodation.co.uk | 4% | pcm | £480 |
| Apropos | £150 | One off | £150 |
| Dep Property Solutions | £350 | pcm | £350 |
| Northwood Wirral | 100% | 1st months rent | £1,000 |
| X1 Lettings | Full management only | ||
| Enviro Estates | 10% | pcm | £1,200 |
| Amazon Management Services Ltd. | £210 | One off | £210 |
Full management fees in Birmingham
| Letting agent name | Fees charged | Fee structure | Fees paid on £1,000 monthly rent (per annum) |
|
Accommodation.co.uk
|
12% | pcm | £1,440 |
|
Open House Birmingham
|
£35 | pcm | |
|
Click Lettings and Sales
|
10% | pcm | £1,200 |
| ROUDS | 7% | pcm | £840 |
|
Open House Edgbaston
|
8% | pcm | £960 |
| Empire Lettings & Property Management Ltd | 12% | pcm | £1,440 |
|
Shape Lettings LTD
|
10% | pcm | £1,200 |
| MAK Estates | 8% | pcm | £960 |
| JustMove | 9% | pcm | £1,080 |
Full management fees in Manchester
| Letting agent name | Fees charged | Fee structure | Fees paid on £1,000 monthly rent (per annum) |
| Accommodation.co.uk | 12% | pcm | £1,440 |
| Kirn Estates Ltd | 12% | pcm | £1,440 |
| Clear Choice Properties | 8% | pcm | £960 |
| The Lettings Cloud | 9% | pcm | £1,080 |
| X1 Lettings | 8% | pcm | £960 |
| Ellenbrook Estates Ltd | 10% | pcm | £1,200 |
| Brentwood Lettings | 10% | pcm | £1,200 |
Full management fees in Liverpool
| Letting agent name | Fees charged | Fee structure | Fees paid on £1,000 monthly rent (per annum) |
| Accommodation.co.uk | 12% | pcm | £1,440 |
| Apropos | 12% | pcm | £1,440 |
| Dep Property Solutions | 12% | pcm | £1,440 |
| Northwood Wirral | 13% | pcm | £2,246 |
| X1 Lettings | 8% | pcm | £1,382 |
| Enviro Estates | 15% | pcm | £2,592 |
| Amazon Management Services Ltd. | 8% | pcm | £2,157 |
Full management fees in Leeds
| Letting agent name | Fees charged | Fee structure |
Fees paid on £1,000 monthly rent (per annum)
|
|
Accommodation.co.uk
|
12% | pcm | £1,440 |
|
Yorkshire Letting Agency
|
8% | pcm | £960 |
| Linley & Simpson | 15% | pcm | £1,800 |
|
Stoneacre Properties
|
7% | pcm | £840 |
| X1 Lettings | 8% | pcm | £960 |
| Butlers Estate Agents Ltd | 9% | pcm | £1,080 |
So who is the best letting agent across the big cities?
Being title ‘the best letting agent’ is very subjective. Some agents may call themselves the best letting agent based on being the biggest.
Others may point to their ‘impartial’ awards they’d received over the years. While it’s for every landlord to decide who is the best letting agent for themselves, below is some performance data to help that decision. Remember if you’re looking for a letting agent when renting out your property, run a search using our agent comparison tool.
| Letting agent name | Average rent obtained | Average time to rent out a property | City |
|
Accommodation.co.uk
|
£1,543 | 4 | Birmingham |
|
Open House Birmingham
|
£1,153 | 6 | Birmingham |
|
Click Lettings and Sales
|
£780 | 7 | Birmingham |
| ROUDS | £611 | 4 | Birmingham |
|
Open House Edgbaston
|
£1,153 | 6 | Birmingham |
| Empire Lettings & Property Management Ltd | £594 | 16 | Birmingham |
|
Shape Lettings LTD
|
£563 | 3 | Birmingham |
| MAK Estates | £936 | 4 | Birmingham |
| JustMove | £685 | 6 | Birmingham |
|
Yorkshire Letting Agency
|
966 | 8 | Leeds |
| Linley & Simpson | 910 | 3 | Leeds |
|
Stoneacre Properties
|
800 | 2 | Leeds |
| X1 Lettings | 464 | 4 | Leeds |
| Butlers Estate Agents Ltd | 594 | 5 | Leeds |
| Kirn Estates Ltd | £923 | 1 | Manchester |
|
Clear Choice Properties
|
£910 | 3 | Manchester |
|
The Lettings Cloud
|
£810 | 1 | Manchester |
| Ellenbrook Estates Ltd | £594 | 5 | Manchester |
|
Brentwood Lettings
|
£594 | 5 | Manchester |
| Apropos | 923 | 1 | Liverpool |
|
Dep Property Solutions
|
652 | 3 | Liverpool |
| Northwood Wirral | 529 | 7 | Liverpool |
| Enviro Estates | 470 | 6 | Liverpool |
|
Amazon Management Services Ltd.
|
628 | 9 | Liverpool |
6. Average Online letting agent fees
To get a fair view in this modern day, you need to consider online letting agents when trying to get a sense of what an agent may charge you.
Online letting agents aren’t for everyone, the expectation is the landlord would need to do more work than they would need to do under a ‘normal’ agent.
However no doubt, there are big savings landlords can make when getting an online agent to rent out their property. Some agents charge just double figure to find a tenant – a big difference to being charged an entire months rent to find a tenant, which some traditional agents charge.
The below table outlines how much online letting agents charge.
Online letting agent |
Tenant Find |
Key information |
 |
£1,050 |
The most expensive online letting agent. However the package includes viewings. Rent Collection Type Services: £145pcm + £950 one off fee Fully Managed is priced at 9.2% pcm + £850 (one off fee) |
 |
£129 |
No frills service, landlord does the viewings Rent Collection Type Services: £149pcm + £950 one off fee Fully Managed: £5%pcm + £99 (one off fee) |
 |
£298 |
A few advertising packages, basic rent collection not offered, so keep that in mind for the long term Discounts offered on multiple properties Fully Managed: £72pcm + £599 (one off fee) |
 |
£49 |
The bare basics offered under this package Fee includes 3 months advertising to find a tenant on the biggest portals Fully Managed not on offer. |
 |
£149 |
Rent collection Type Services: £49pcm + £149 one off fee Fully managed will cost you £89 + £149 one off fee |
 |
£99 |
Rent collection offered as part of the fully managed service. Fully managed fee is 6% of rental income pcm |
 |
£49 |
You save £50 if you select the tenant find option with just 1 reference Fully Managed is based on £85 pcm, one of the cheapest |
|
|
£99 |
There is a free tenant find option but it’s pretty basic. Fully Managed £65pcm |
6. Average rental yields in the UK
As we’re a helpful bunch at Rentround, we’ve also included some data on average rental yields across various postcodes in the UK.
The yield data will hopefully help you judge how much your own yield should be depending on your location. Your actual yield will depend on your purchase price etc. But the trend column we’ve included will help you understand if there’s scope for you to look into increasing your rent due to recent location fluctuations.
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